Hello and welcome back to Roger Rabbit Week. Today, I continue my look at the three Roger Rabbit shorts. An interesting sidenote is Spielberg and Eisner had a dispute over which film which short should be shown in front. Eisner wanted it go in front of Dick Tracy, which it ultimately did while Spielberg wanted to put in front of this! This being: Arachnophobia. Also this was the only Roger Rabbit short to garner a PG rating due to a scene where Roger grabs a bull by his testicles.
The Plot
Again like the last short, the plot is rather simple but it works well enough. Here we have Roger and Baby Herman at a fair. Herman's mother decides to go have her fortune read by a psychic and leaves Roger in charge of Baby Herman. This had to be one of the funniest things because Roger knew nothing good would come out of this and pleaded with her to stay but she said no and then the plot really kicks in with Roger getting a red balloon for Herman that he soon loses and Herman goes out of his stroller through a trap door to go after it and crawls all over the fair from crawling on a dart game where one of the prizes is a Roger Rabbit doll. Does that make anyone else think of Honey, I Blew Up The Kid?
Funny, I bring that up as the previous short was shown in front of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. Eventually all of this crawling and chasing after the balloon leads Roger and Herman all through the fair and through different mishaps such as Roger getting attacked by a bull and then finally they get on the roller coaster. For the titular part of the short, it takes them a while to get to the coaster but even still it is so much fun. I love it when they get on the coaster because it looks so monstrous and big and there is that sense of fear that I get at least when on roller coasters. The plot while simple, I realize I spent a good time explaining it but I like it for what it is and it works rather well for this short. Once again in this short we get a Droopy cameo and as for Jessica, I'm not even including her in the characters as she was limited to two cameos. One as foldout and one as a damsel in distress and oh, the psychic I should mention was Clarabelle Cow.
Characters
There's really no need to break this down any further than I have. So now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's begin. Also just as with my Three Little Pigs retrospective, I won't be labeling the voice actors.
Roger Rabbit
I will say one good thing about these shorts is that the settings provide for excellent funny moments with Roger. Just like the last short, Roger's antics were zany and over the top and I loved it. If you recall yesterday that I compared the short something more akin to Looney Tunes or MGM, well I've finally figured out what Disney character Roger reminds me of: Goofy. Think about it, they're both so clumsy but well meaning. The big difference between the two is that Goofy is able to keep his chin up a bit more and Roger is more over the top than Goofy. If you can believe that. (Hmm, I think I have an idea for a future Vs.) Now just like the last short, this one is revealed to be a short being shot on a studio and again, it worked well. The fourth wall is broken twice both when Roger and Baby Herman are both on the coaster. The first time the car on the coaster literally runs off the short and you see the two on the reel of the short. That was such a nice touch and then again at the end, where the coaster crashes and Roger and Roger is on fire. You see him in the studio and just like in the film the director is angry at Roger for messing up the scene and he wants Roger to do it again but Roger says no and runs through the end screen leaving a Roger sized hole in the end shot. Sadly, I could not find a picture of this. But I was able to find some other nice
Roger pictures for you to enjoy from this short
Baby Herman
Just as with Jessica in Tummy Trouble, I seem to run into the same problem here with Baby Herman. While he was good and funny because of all the antics, he felt underused a bit in this short but still his moments were good but at same time, this is something that one should take into consideration when your dealing with an over the top character such as Roger Rabbit.
My Final Thoughts
While still an enjoyable short, it was not as strong as Tummy Trouble and at parts the short felt as though there was studio meddling that kept it from all that it could've been. One thing that I find interesting is that there was a special in-joke planned that would've taken place when Roger and Herman on the coaster.
Alas the animators had a hard time getting this scene right and it ended up on the cutting room floor. Another neat thing that I found is this bust of Jessica that was inspired by this short but with Jessica in a different outfit that lead me to believe she may have had a different role.
Who knows? Ah, well! All the same, I enjoyed this one and join me tomorrow when I conclude my look at the three Roger Rabbit shorts as I review...
Trail Mix-Up
The Plot
Again like the last short, the plot is rather simple but it works well enough. Here we have Roger and Baby Herman at a fair. Herman's mother decides to go have her fortune read by a psychic and leaves Roger in charge of Baby Herman. This had to be one of the funniest things because Roger knew nothing good would come out of this and pleaded with her to stay but she said no and then the plot really kicks in with Roger getting a red balloon for Herman that he soon loses and Herman goes out of his stroller through a trap door to go after it and crawls all over the fair from crawling on a dart game where one of the prizes is a Roger Rabbit doll. Does that make anyone else think of Honey, I Blew Up The Kid?
 |
| While not the one from the film, the same idea can be applied. |
Funny, I bring that up as the previous short was shown in front of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. Eventually all of this crawling and chasing after the balloon leads Roger and Herman all through the fair and through different mishaps such as Roger getting attacked by a bull and then finally they get on the roller coaster. For the titular part of the short, it takes them a while to get to the coaster but even still it is so much fun. I love it when they get on the coaster because it looks so monstrous and big and there is that sense of fear that I get at least when on roller coasters. The plot while simple, I realize I spent a good time explaining it but I like it for what it is and it works rather well for this short. Once again in this short we get a Droopy cameo and as for Jessica, I'm not even including her in the characters as she was limited to two cameos. One as foldout and one as a damsel in distress and oh, the psychic I should mention was Clarabelle Cow.
 |
| Does anyone find it weird that Roger is looking at a foldout of his wife? |
Characters
There's really no need to break this down any further than I have. So now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's begin. Also just as with my Three Little Pigs retrospective, I won't be labeling the voice actors.
Roger Rabbit
I will say one good thing about these shorts is that the settings provide for excellent funny moments with Roger. Just like the last short, Roger's antics were zany and over the top and I loved it. If you recall yesterday that I compared the short something more akin to Looney Tunes or MGM, well I've finally figured out what Disney character Roger reminds me of: Goofy. Think about it, they're both so clumsy but well meaning. The big difference between the two is that Goofy is able to keep his chin up a bit more and Roger is more over the top than Goofy. If you can believe that. (Hmm, I think I have an idea for a future Vs.) Now just like the last short, this one is revealed to be a short being shot on a studio and again, it worked well. The fourth wall is broken twice both when Roger and Baby Herman are both on the coaster. The first time the car on the coaster literally runs off the short and you see the two on the reel of the short. That was such a nice touch and then again at the end, where the coaster crashes and Roger and Roger is on fire. You see him in the studio and just like in the film the director is angry at Roger for messing up the scene and he wants Roger to do it again but Roger says no and runs through the end screen leaving a Roger sized hole in the end shot. Sadly, I could not find a picture of this. But I was able to find some other nice
Roger pictures for you to enjoy from this short
Baby Herman
Just as with Jessica in Tummy Trouble, I seem to run into the same problem here with Baby Herman. While he was good and funny because of all the antics, he felt underused a bit in this short but still his moments were good but at same time, this is something that one should take into consideration when your dealing with an over the top character such as Roger Rabbit.
My Final Thoughts
While still an enjoyable short, it was not as strong as Tummy Trouble and at parts the short felt as though there was studio meddling that kept it from all that it could've been. One thing that I find interesting is that there was a special in-joke planned that would've taken place when Roger and Herman on the coaster.
Riding in this roller coaster train was supposed to have been every single animated character that has ever appeared in a Disney film. Mickey and Minnie were to have been seated in the front car, while Monstro the Whale from Pinocchio and Chernabog would have been towering over everyone from seats at the very back of the train. Disney animators worked for weeks to get this brief flash of a scene just right
Alas the animators had a hard time getting this scene right and it ended up on the cutting room floor. Another neat thing that I found is this bust of Jessica that was inspired by this short but with Jessica in a different outfit that lead me to believe she may have had a different role.
Who knows? Ah, well! All the same, I enjoyed this one and join me tomorrow when I conclude my look at the three Roger Rabbit shorts as I review...
Trail Mix-Up
No comments:
Post a Comment